Roly-poly toy



Sept. 23, 1952 sc 2,611,214

ROLY-POLY TOY Filed June 5, 1950 INVENTOR FREDERICK E 561402 ATTORNEYPatented Sept. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,611,214 1HOLY-POLY Tor Frederick P. .Schur, Washington, I). 0. Application June5, 1950, Serial No. 166,114

toy being very simple in construction, involving relatively few parts,and having a high degree of entertainment value for children.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved illuminatedroly-poly toy which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is sturdy inconstruction, which is self-contained, and which provides a veryinteresting and entertainin blinking 'efiect when oscillated.

A still further object of the invention is to 6 Claims. (C1. 46-116)provide a battery-operated, self-contained, illuminated roly-poly toywhich is dark when in its normal static position and which becomesilluminated when its equilibrium is disturbed, providing a blinkingeifect as it rocks back and forth.

A still further object of the invention is to prowhen the toy is in itsnormal'static position,

whereby drainon the batteries of the toy isminimized and the useful lifeof said batteries is extended. a a I I 7 Further objects and'advantagesof the invention will become apparent from the following de- 'scriptionandclaims and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view, partly in cross-section, ofan-improved 'roly-poly toy constructed in accordance with the presentinvention, the toy being shown in normal, upright, static position. g

- Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the toy of Figure 1 withthe upper portion of the main housing removed.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional View taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2. Y

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to the lowerportion of Figure ljbut showing the toy in a rocked position.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan'vi'ewsh'owing a modified form ofswitch arrangement employed in a roly-poly toy according to' the presentinvention. Y I

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional detail view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5.a

V Figure 7 is a top plan detail view of the inner portion of a furthermodified form of ro1y-poly ing. a pair of parallel-connected batteries.-

the casing of battery 24.

Referring to the drawings, and more particul'arly to Figures 1 to 4, Hgenerally designates the roly-poly toy. Said toy comprises a bottomhollow segment l2, which is substantially hemispherical, and a topsegment I3, also hemispherical, detachably secured in any suitablemanner to the rim of bottom segment 12. For example, said rim may beannularly recessed at 14 to receive the rim of segment 13 and may beformed with -L-shaped bayonet slots 15 to lockin'glyr'eceive inwardlyprojecting pins l6 carried by segment 13, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Secured to the top of segment 13 is a spherical head ll, suitablyornamented to simulate a face.

Secured in the lower portion of segment 12, as by a-plurality or clips I8, is an annular thick metal disc I9, which functions as a weight'tobias the toy to an upright position, 'subst'antiall as shown inFigure 1. I Designated at 2! is a disc of relatively light insulatingmaterial secured in segment I2, as byf'a plurality of clips 22, abovethe weight disc l3.

Designated at 23 and '24 are respective flashlight batteries mounted inparallel rectangular apertures 25 formed in disc 21 and locatedsymmetrically on opposite sides of the vertical axis of the toy.Designated at 26 is'a resilient trans versely extending contact barprovided with a horizontal tab '27 projecting from the intermedi ateportion of its lower edge and secured todisc 2| between the batteries'23 and 24. One arm '28 of bar 25 engages the end wall of the casing'foibattery 23 and the other arm 29 engages the center contact of battery24. Designated at 30 is a metal spring clip secured to disc 2|and-engaging the end wall of the casing of battery 24, to frictionallyretain the battery in "its seating aperture 25. Designated at'3'l is aspringclip secured to disc 2| by a bolt 32. As shownin Figure 3, aspacer sleeve 2i! is provided'-'on bit 32 between clip '3'l and disc 21Clip 31 is formed with a firstspring arm 33; engaging the'center contactof battery'23 and with a, second spring arm 34. Secured on the end ofarm 34 is a verti cally positioned lamp socket 35, one terminal of saidsocket being electrically connected to arm 38. "I'heothfterminalof thesocket, shown at 36, extends over the bared casing or battery 2'4 and isbiased toward engagement with saidca'sing by the springarm 34. Mountedin'socket35 is a conventional fiashlightlamp bulb 31 which becomesenergized whenever terminal as en ages Rigidly secured to the bottomsurface oispring arm 34 is a depending rod 38, which is axially which issecured at 32 to the disc 2|. bracket member 3| is provided with thespring arm 34 on which the lamp socket is mounted, as

aligned with socket 35, and which extends through a central aperture 39in disc 2|, through the central aperture 40 of weight disc [9, andthrough an aperture 4| in the bottom of segment I2.

From Figures 1, 3 and 4 it will be seen that when the toy is at rest thelower end of rod 38 engages the supporting surface, shown at 42, andmaintains the contact terminal 36 elevated above the casingof battery24. When the toy is rocked, the rod 38 is released and is movedoutwardly through aperture 4|, as shown in Figure 4, allowing terminal36 to engage the casing of battery 24, whereby the lamp 31 becomesenergized. The segments l2 and i3 are formed of light-transmittingmaterial, such as translucent plastic. Energization of lamp 31 thereforecauses the body of the toy to glow. Oscillation of the toy causes saidbody to glow intermittently, follow- .ing the rocking motion of the toy,and producing a very interesting and entertaining effect. When the toycomes to rest in its static upright position, terminal 36 is supportedout of engagement with the casing of battery 24. and the lamp 3! isdeenergized.

In the modification shown in Figures 5 and 6, the meta1 spring clip 30'engaging the end wall of the casing of battery 24 is formed with aresilient contact arm 43 extending over the battery 24 parallel theretoand underlying the terminal 36. This eliminates the necessity ofremoving the insulating cover sleeve normally provided on the battery24. As shown in Figure 6, terminal 36 is normally supported out ofcontact with arm 43.

When the toy is rocked, terminal 36 engages arm 43, completing theenergizing circuit for the lamp 31 In the modification shown in Figure 7the batteries 23 and 24 are connected in parallel and the terminal 36 isdisposed in transverse overlying relation to the top edge of theresilient bar member 26. As illustrated, the center contacts of thebatteries are connectedtogether by the respective spring arms 33, 33' ofthe bracket member 3| The in the previously described embodiments of theinvention. 'Spring arm 34 is electrically connected to one terminal ofthe socket. Since spring arm 34 biases the lamp socket downwardly,theoth'er terminal 36 is adapted to engage the top edge of bar member 26when the toy is rocked, thereby energizing the lamp 3! in the samemanner as in said previously described embodiments.- I I While certainspecific embodiments of an illuminated rely-poly toy have been disclosedin the foregoing description, it will be understood that variousmodifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that-no limitations beplaced on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appendedclaims.

. What is claimed is:

1. In a toy of the character described, a lighttransmitting body havinga rounded bottom formed with an aperture, a lamp mounted in said body, abattery in said body, switch means car- 2. In a toy of the characterdescribed, a 1ighttransmitting body having a rounded bottom formed withan aperture, a lamp mounted in said body, a battery in said body, anelement movably mounted in said body, said element projecting throughsaid aperture and being arranged to engage the supporting surface underthe body, and circuit means arranged to intermittently connect said lampto said battery responsive to movement of said element produced byrocking motion of said body.

3. A rely-poly toy comprising a hollow body of light-transmittingmaterial having a rounded bottom formed with an aperture, a weightsecured in the lower portion of said body, biasing the body to anupright position, support means secured in said body, a battery mountedon said support means, a lamp bulb carried by said support means, anelement movably secured to said support means and projecting throughsaid aperture, said element being engageable with the supporting surfaceunder the body, first contact means carried by said element, secondcontact means carried by said support means subadjacent to said firstcontact means, and circuit means connecting said lamp to said batteryand including said first and second contact means, said element beingarranged to elevate the first contact means out of engagement with thesecond contact means when said element engages the supporting surfaceunder the body, and to allow said first contact means to engage saidsecond contact means when the element is rocked out of contact with saidsupporting surface as the body rocks on the supporting surface.

4. A roly-poly toy comprising a spherical hollow body oflight-transmitting material formed with an aperture at its bottom, aweight secured in the lower portion of said body, biasing the body to anupright position, support means secured in said body, a battery mountedon said support means, a lamp bulb, resilient means securing said lampbulb to said support means, an element secured to said bulb, saidelement projecting through said aperture and being engageable with thesupporting surface under the body,

.first'conta'ct means carried by said element, second contact meanscarried by said support means ,subadjacent to saidfirst contact means,and cir- .cuit means connecting said lamp bulb to said battery andincluding said first and second contact means, said element beingarranged to elevate the first contact means out of engagement with thesecond contact means when said element engages .the supporting surfaceunder the body, and to al- .to an upright position, support meanssecured in said body, a battery mounted on said support .means, a lampsocket, spring means connecting .said'socket to said support means, arigid rod member secured to said socket, said rod member projectingthrough said aperture and,bein engageablewith the supporting surfaceunder the body, first contact means carried by, said socket, secondcontact means carried by said support means subadjacent-to said firstcontact means,

andcircuit means connecting said socket to said battery and includingsaid first and second conitact means, the rod member being arranged toREFERENCES CITED hold the first and Second Contact means separated Thefollowing references are of re'ord in the by the engagement of said rodmember with the fil of this patent; supporting surface under the toywhen the toy is in a static condition and to allow said contact 5 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS means to interengage when the toy is rocked; Number Namej Date '6. In a toy, a light-transmitting body having a 907,092Schoenhut Dec. 15, 1908 rounded bottom, illuminating means. inside the1,923,861 Floraday Aug. 22, 1933 body, and switch means controllinglyconnected 2,104,762 Riner "Jan. 11, 1938 to the illuminating means andprojecting through 10 2,151,938 Ramsey Mar. 28, 1939 said bottom foroperation by engagement with the 2,177,337 Stein Oct. 24, 1939supporting surface under the body responsiv'eto FOREIGN PATENTS rockingmotion of the bottom of the body on-said supporting urface NumberCountry Date RE K sc fl 15 529,271 Great Britain NOV. 18, 1940

